Reproducibility of Rolandic beta rhythm modulation in MEG and EEG

The Rolandic beta rhythm, at ~20 Hz, is generated in the somatosensory and motor cortices and is modulated by motor activity and sensory stimuli, causing a short lasting suppression that is followed by a rebound of the beta rhythm. The rebound reflects inhibitory changes in the primary sensorimotor (SMI) cortex, and thus it has been used as a biomarker to follow the recovery of acute stroke patients. The longitudinal stability of beta rhythm modulation is a prerequisite for its use in long-term follow-ups. We quantified the reproducibility of beta rhythm modulation in healthy subjects in a 1-year-longitudinal study both for MEG and EEG at T0,one month (T1-month, n = 8) and one year (T1-year, n = 19). The beta rhythm (13-25 Hz) was modulated by fixed tactile and proprioceptive stimulations of the index fingers. The relative peak strengths of beta suppression and rebound did not differ significantly between the sessions, and inter-session reproducibility was good or excellent according to intraclass correlation-coefficient values (0.70-0.96) both in MEG and EEG. Our results indicate that the beta rhythm modulation to tactile and proprioceptive stimulation is well reproducible within one year. These results support the use of beta modulation as a biomarker in long-term follow-up studies, e.g., to quantify the functional state of the SMI cortex during rehabilitation and drug interventions in various neurological impairments.